Thursday, September 2, 2010

Seth Godin (and many other business authors) agree, growth comes from "stretching" your discomfort. DO the uncomfortable and you will grow. Don't want to grow? Stop reading blogs for goodness sakes! Want to grow, here are some tips for HOW to Stretch and Exercise your "discomfort zone". (Extroverts and Introverts both)

Extroverts (like myself) prefer to think "outside their head". We like to draw on white-boards, engage in debate, and generally "talk & interact" with people. The problem is this: if all you do is extroversion, you miss out on deep thinking, attention to detail, and most of all quiet focus. For an extrovert, it is "uncomfortable" to have quiet, work alone, or focus on details.

Planning your introversion and "forcing yourself" to spend time alone, focusing on details, is the best way to stretch that uncomfortable muscle. It will grow from there (or at least you will minimize the effects of lacking introversion).

Each day, plan out 2 x 1-hour blocks where you will DO something introverted.

most important do it ALONE, and make sure you force yourself to do it for the whole 1-hour block.

Because you set an "end-time" for the discomfort to end, you will find it less dis-comfortable to do it (just for 1 hour).

I find the best time for me to do it is 1st thing in the morning, and then again right before I leave work.

Introverts (like my wife) prefer to think "inside their head". They prefer to work alone, to think deeply on problems, and to focus on details. In many cases, they fear (and are VERY uncomfortable) engaging "with people".

Planning your extroversion is even more important! Unlike extroverts, you have to make plans that involve other people. Here are the tips:

Each day, plan out 2 x 1-hour blocks where you will DO something extroverted (WITH others).

1 comment:

I find that making a game out of doing something that makes us feel uncomfortable really motivates me to take action. I keep track of how productive I am by keeping track of my progress through a point system. I try to reach 7 points at the end of each day.

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In 2005, Harlan founded and was CEO of Bigfoot Networks, Inc., a gaming
hardware company, which was acquired by Qualcomm in 2011. After Bigfoot,
Harlan founded and was CEO of Karmaback, Inc., a very successful Social
Networking SaaS company, which was acquired in 2013. Harlan then worked for Creeris Ventures as a virtual VP of Marketing for
their 9 portfolio companies. Harlan is currently CEO of Key Ingredient, a high-tech Cloud technology company, focused on delivering Food Recipes via the Cloud. Harlan also recently completed his PhD in
Business and regularly lectures at U.T. Austin on Business, and is
passionate about the convergence of hard science with Business.

Before becoming an entrepreneur, Harlan worked at Intel and was
responsible for architecture and development of corporate server
networking products, including the world's first 10-Gigabit Ethernet
adapter. He later joined start-up Britestream Networks and helped
develop a 100% CPU off-load SSL security solution. Harlan has over 12
patents from his engineering career, has been published in dozens of
books and articles.

In his 12 years leading companies and teams, Harlan has successfully
launched 5 hardware and 15 software products including the Killer NIC,
2007 Network Product of the Year (CPU Magazine). Harlan has also raised
over $20MM in venture financing in the challenging intersection of
entertainment and technology.